What does it cost to wire a swimming pool?
Every inground pool project comes with certain peripheral costs that need to be figured when calculating a budget. In many cases, one such cost is electrical hook-up. This article is a guide to provide inground pool shoppers with a "ball-park" idea of what to expect to spend to have an electrician wire all of the components of their pool.
Please keep in mind that swimming pool electrical hook-up cost may vary widely between regions.
General Price Range
In the Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. areas, a standard electrical hook-up package for an inground pool will generally cost between $3,500 and $4,500.
This standard package would include:
- An electrical permit
- Labor and materials to wire standard pool components, which include: pump, light, pump timer, and installing one GFCI (ground-fault circuit interrupter) receptacle plug 10–20 feet from the pool.
- Bonding all necessary components
- Ensuring all necessary inspections pass
Criteria of a "Standard Installation"
Most electricians consider an installation to be "standard" when:
- The equipment (pump and filter system) is located at the house and therefore does not require any trenching between the house and the pool equipment.
- The house has a standard crawlspace foundation.
- The house panel box has room for the additional breakers needed for the pool equipment.
The base price for a standard scenario such as this would cost around $3,500.
Factors that will affect cost
Obviously, there are many pool projects that do not fall within the parameters of a standard electrical hook-up package. Here is a list of additional factors that will affect the electrical hook-up cost.
Filter system location
Locating the pool equipment away from the house adds cost for two primary reasons.
First, because the electrician now has to dig a trench across the yard from the house to the equipment and this trench has to be inspected by local building officials to verify that it is at proper depth.
Second, because there's a longer run from the panel box in the house to the equipment the amount of labor and material increases proportionately.
Additional Cost: $500–$1,500
Pool Equipment
As I stated earlier a standard hook-up normally includes wiring the pump, pump timer, light, and a receptacle. Each additional piece of pool equipment that needs to be wired will add some cost to the bottom line. Here's a list of pool options and a general price to wire them.
- Salt Chlorine Generator: $150
- Heat Pump: $700–$1,000
- Fuel Burning Heater: $300–$500
- Hot Tub: $500–$1,000
- Automatic Cover: $500–$750
Basement or Concrete Slab Foundation
A finished basement or concrete slab foundation requires the electrician to run his wire out of the house at the location of the electrical panel box and trench around the entire perimeter of the house until he reaches the pool equipment. In contrast, with a crawl space foundation (standard installation) the electrician can run the wire under the house and have the wire exit at the equipment location. This additional labor and materials will usually cost an additional $500–$1000.
Room in House Electrical Panel
If the house electrical panel is full there are two options:
The first option is to have the electrician install a sub-panel which will simply provide the breaker space needed to accommodate the pool equipment. This approach assumes that the existing service to the house can handle the load placed on it by the new pool equipment. This approach is basically a means of re-distributing the existing electrical service in your home and will normally cost an additional $250–$500.
The second option is to contact the electrical company and get what's known as a service upgrade which will increase the amount of electricity provided to your house. This normally takes the electrical provider three to six weeks to install and can cost from $750–$1500.
Well, there you have it: a cost guide for wiring an inground pool. Please feel free to share any questions or comments below and we'll be happy to respond.
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Editor's note: This blog article was updated on July 20, 2020.
